Sep 28, 2007

Prostitution rings? On Saipan?

DPS and Crime Stoppers have asked for the community's help. Here's their press release:

"The Crime Stoppers program is asking the community for information on persons responsible for operating prostitution rings in the CNMI.Members of the community are urged to provide true and accurate information when submitting tips.Anyone having information should call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 234-7272 (PARA). PTI cell phone users can call *11.The Crime Stoppers program pays cash rewards up to $1,000 cash for information leading to an arrest. Caller ID is not used and all calls remain anonymous."

Save your $1,000 cash rewards, Crime Stoppers. All DPS and its police officers have to do is do their job.

How come patrolling officers in Garapan turn a blind eye on those women in dark alleys at night? And no, these women are not there to get some fresh air. Why not ask them who they work for? Do these women get some kind of 'protection' from authorities?

Have they tried to check whether these workers have valid work/entry permit after all? Who are their employers? Their entry/work permits should have the name of their employers. Unless they're one of those involved in illegal sponsorships.

But yes, as what Rev says, WTH, if DPS can't do it with all the roaming around and gasoline consumed doing so, then maybe ordinary members of the community could help Crime Stoppers or DPS.

No one really cares about cleaning up the Garapan area. At least not the government. I was once at the Gov's office and asked some legislators what they planned to do to make the paseo more family and tourist friendly. They all gave each other sideways glances and crooked smiles and started chuckling.

Please, cops get free tabs at some of those places and I can point out in my head a few mistresses that work around that area too. Che'chu lahi.

One day I'm going to open up a secret surveillance company: Ma Gatcha Hao!

Stopping and searching anyone bigbrother style is wrong, but security cameras in public places is much needed. Garapan shopping area roads, bird island, banzai, grotto, suicide cliff and obyan could all use security cams.

How many prostitutes have cut off the water supply, stripped wires from businesses, stole A.C's and computers from schools? The streached thin DPS needs to solve the problems on hand, not look for things to do. I must call political election 'bullshit' on this one.

It’s impossible to eradicate prostitution in Garapan or anywhere else. The most you can hope for is to regulate it. Nobody has a clearer understanding of this than DPS.

As for ‘doing their job’, what’s the point? It’s tough finding grounds to make an arrest that’ll stick, tougher yet to get the case through the Attorney General’s Office. Sting operations are expensive and time consuming and if a case actually makes it to court and a conviction is obtained, sentencing is always ineffective. Girls (sometimes they are actually boys) are often back on the street within days of being sentenced. Those who are detained or incarcerated are quickly replaced. But arresting the prostitutes will always be ineffective, as they are only supplying a service for which there is obviously a demand. As long as that demand exists, there will be prostitutes. Glen558 point is valid- the 'Johns' are frequently much nastier people than the prostitutes.

As for those ‘women in those dark alleys at night’- no matter what apparent intent may exist, it’s not against the law to be a woman in a dark alley at night in the CNMI. CNMI Public Law 14-50 made loitering in public thoroughfares a criminal offense, but only for certain specific reasons, such as pestering tourists to enter a business establishment. DPS has increased the number of prostitution arrests under this law this year, but the act of solicitation must be directly observed, and it can be difficult to get the potential ‘John’ to concur that he was pestered. Besides, there's blatant solicitation all along the walkways outside Joeten Garapan, and it's easy to observe visibly pestered tourists there.

As for the 'Good Ol' Boys', it's no real secret that DPS has made some sensational busts over the years, only to see their cases disappear into the AG's black hole. But is it any wonder? It's also no real secret that a senior AG attorney was busted engaging the services of a Chinese girl after hours in the AG's Susupe facility during the last administration. Look for that case in anybody's criminal justice database.

As for the cameras- not to worry, they never really worked very well. Connections to the control center dropped out in light rain, and Chinese girls quickly learned that they could jam the entire system quite effectively using hand held devices readily available at SAM Electronics. The system's currently disfunctional, its control computer is at Saipan Computer Services awaiting payment of its $350.00 repair bill. But even after its repaired, no one knows where its application software is, so the surveillance system is not going to be operational anytime soon. Yes, there are plans by MVA (I think) and other groups to expand surveillance along Beach Road, all the way to San Antonio. A local contractor has been engaged, but he's never done anything like it before, and it's a challenging project.

But that's all completely beside the point- at its root prostitution is not a law enforcement problem. You can't legislate libido, certainly not Good Ol' Boys' libido.

As for cops and prostitutes- Prostitutes and cops are human, just like you. Remember Jesus' admonition about throwing the first stone.

It's impossible? Is it possible to make an effort to clean it up? Is it possible to create an environment where families can walk around the tourist district without strippers standing on the Paseo or looking out from the balconies? Just because you have myriad reasons why you think it's impossible doesn't make it so.

I didn't mean to throw stones at the hookers. If I offended anyone or their acquaintances, let me apologize. If you're a prostitute and you're reading this, my apologies. May you prosper and continue to bring countless good fortune to the CNMI and it's worthy clients.

Drug dealers and drug users are human too, why try to get in between the human body's need to feed a chemical addiction? Why legislate dependency?

Only clients and hookers believe prostitution is a victimless crime. At least clients know what they're getting. I would be willing to bet a good majority of those women didn't even know they what they were getting into when they signed their contracts. We've redefined the word waitress here in the CNMI. Maybe we should change our theme song to "I'm In Love With A Stripper".

Your on track Boni. Prohibition of alcohol in the United States created the Mafia and trafficking scene in the US. Alot of folks died needlessly and violently during prohibition. Alot of folks also got filthy rich (the Kennedys for example).

The gangs, crime and overwhelming violence associated with illegal drugs (and prostitution to some degree) are due to the "prohibition" of these things. As soon as these are legal, there will be no large profits involved and much of the associated violence and crime will disappear.

The argument antidrug folks always use.. "but then it will cost alot of money to manage the medical costs of drug users and abusers" doesn't really hold any weight when you think about the infrastructure behind the keeping drugs illegal.. imagine the billions of dollars that go into supporting federal and state law enforcement programs each year.

But I'd rather let people get there drugs at a cheap enough price that they don't need to rob my grandmother, or carjack my sister, or make the streets of many cities too dangerous to walk at night because of drug dealers and drug related violence. If you want to overdose, that is your business, don't bring harm to the community through robbery every time you need a hit.

Sorry Boni.. I was being sarcastic as well when I said "your right on track". :)

It's no wonder why the government is having a hard time curbing prostitution which is an unregulated industry...the strip clubs are supposed to be regulated industry but look at how they clog the labor and criminal system.

while the govt is not supposed to stop and check every woman in skimpy clothes in dark alleys, it could make advance announcements just like what they do with the sobriety check points. while it could defeat its purpose of catching them in their natural state, it wont hurt to do it a few times and see if it's working -- rather than not doing anything at all and think that it is just impossible to control.

Rev's comment regarding military spillover is valid. Remember that the commander of those troops who are headed our way once admonished four of them that they should have engaged the services of off-post prostitutes instead of kidnapping, gang raping and murdering a 12 (16?) year old school girl on Okinawa a few years ago.

Also, DPS' prostitution arrests ALWAYS spike when Navy boats are in town. A former Commissioner's dockside briefings that Saipan prostitutes were actually sent by the Chinese government to infect US servicement with AIDS never had any statistical effect.

Not only can the libido not be legislated, it appears it can't be constrained by the fear of a slow, agonizing death either.

Oh Yeah, wouldn't that be a wonderful place to live.. like Nazi Germany, or Russia during the cold-war.. Announcing checkpoints for pedestrians and people out on the street. This is nuts.

We shouldn't "do nothing at all".. we should legalize it, make sure the workers are clean, tax and regulate it. It'll be a safer industry for everyone, you won't have seedy street walkers and you won't have the need to consider wasting valuable government resources.

Everyone's happy! But then I don't really believe that those who argue against prostitution really believe it is a "public safety" issue. It is a moral issue to them and public safety is just a general argument that is used to hopefully bring a larger audience on-board.

For those of us opposed to prostitution rather than legalizing it, there is a simple first step:

Bar contract workers from working in any establishment where alcohol is served.

Yes, this will hurt legitimate businesses in the short term, including the Hyatt and Porky's.

In the long term it will open up local jobs as waiters and waitresses. Real waitstaff, not prostitutes.

Federalization will do the same thing, as I can't see U.S. CNMI Immigration Transition Director Cohen or U.S. DoL CNMI Labor Representative Benedetto approving aliens to work as prostitutes in these places.

But in the meantime, it's election season. Now would be a good time to prohibit such alien employment.

Barring contract workers from employment in alcohol serving positions might not make any difference. The cops have found prostitution operations run out of coin laundries, and most Saipan cab drivers and hotel concierges will happily hook you up with a prostitute. There have been cases where lifeguards at hotel pools were actually part time prostitutes for tourist girls.

Ban non-resident workers at places that serve alcohol? This is not where most of the prostitutes work or come from. Most of them are from the factories and work at the massage parlors, or just stand out on the street. Ludicrous idea.

Rape is a violent crime. Prostitution is there to cater to sex addicts. Of course it's a moral issue. So is child pornography. Saying it's a moral issue doesn't negate the discussion. We all have to get the minds of all the religious hypocrites out of our heads and look at it with open eyes. Prostitution is not a victimless crime. What if our CNMI women wanted to be prostitutes? Would we open up a new vocational study for that? Would you go for our girls standing on those steps of strip clubs instead of the workers that are there now? Believe me, they don't want to be there doing what they're doing, at least not until they become desensitized to it and learn how to make it work for their benefit.

Have you guys and gals read the Ms. Magazine issue in 2006 where they had a feature story (cover story) of the CNMI as the prostitution and abortion island in the Pacific. If that is the image that mainlanders believe of the CNMI then ya'think something should be done about this? Hey, there's prostitution anywhere right? oh well...

^^can you really blame them for running that story, even if it is a wee-bit sensationalistic? although guam has the same ease of access to these so-called massage parlors and prostitution dens, the fact is, because saipan is so small and the activity really is so much more blatant/visible there in garapan, we are going to get labeled with that image. at least until we as a community decide to no longer tolerate it.

i don't believe the police will ever fully address the prositution issue - they do their level best to maintain it for their (and others) benefit. i personally saw a police car parked behind a certain apartment where i knew girls of the evening lived (i was a neighbor at the time and am not blind). i saw the officer (one) go in as he left his patrol car vacant in the parking lot idling during the early afternoon. he returned to his partrol car about 25 minutes later - in defense of the officer maybe he was just interviewing them about some crime.. those that know the business tell me that police frequent these places (some more than others)quite frequently... and the girls know it.

i don't believe the police will ever fully address the prositution issue - they do their level best to maintain it for their (and others) benefit. i personally saw a police car parked behind a certain apartment where i knew girls of the evening lived (i was a neighbor at the time and am not blind). i saw the officer (one) go in as he left his patrol car vacant in the parking lot idling during the early afternoon. he returned to his partrol car about 25 minutes later - in defense of the officer maybe he was just interviewing them about some crime.. those that know the business tell me that police frequent these places (some more than others)quite frequently... and the girls know it.

"Ban non-resident workers at places that serve alcohol? This is not where most of the prostitutes work or come from. Most of them are from the factories and work at the massage parlors, or just stand out on the street. Ludicrous idea."

Sorry. I guess that reflects my lack of actual experience with prostitutes. According to the press accounts and federal takeover activists, clubs seem to be a fertile source of human trafficking and forced prostitution, but such claims could indeed be exaggerated, as may be the Ms. article based on Wendy Doromal's report of a decade ago.

Your judgmentalism, boni, against religious believers overlooks the many ways our community can benefit from all perspectives, and the common ground that faith and feminism share in attempting to alleviate the suffering of women oppressed by their "choice" to become sex workers.

I guess you read my comment wrong. I am a believer. Some think that prostitution is only a moral issue, and that only the religious care about getting rid of it. But, you don't have to be religious to know that it degrades women and breaks families apart.

As I've said before, the prostitution industry has also been impacted by the local economic turmoil that they now offer 'do me now, pay me later' of some sort at least to non-tourist/non visiting military customers.

a male friend told me recently that one of those ladies in a dark Garapan alley followed his car and when he got off the car, the woman asked him whether his girlfriend or wife is not around, trying to get him as a customer. talk about aggressiveness.

I think it's in extreme poor taste to call exotic dancers "ho's". If I looked like one, I'd be dancing and making the bucks as well.

That is exactly what I mean when I say it is not a public safety issue, but a moral one to those who oppose this. Strippers in the greater majority of cases are not hookers. But the "moral non-majority" likes to lump them together, because their intention is not to make the public safer, but to rid the community of what they see as immorality.

I say.. if you don't want to see the show.. don't walk into the club.

The logic behind "We're not going to allow women to work as exotic dancers and make oodles of bucks because it is demeans women" is insane to me. Those women have all the power. They are cleaning out the men. And likewise, the same applies to Male Exotic Dancers.

Your moral beliefs should not be thrust upon everyone in the community. This is the problem with any overly conservative place, i.e.-Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, etc.

There's a term we used to use to describe such "morality based" bills - "The Jealous Wive's Bills"

What kind of an existence would we be leading if our freedoms were dependent on the various morals of those who were in office? I don't like miniskirts, he thinks bikinis are lewd, she thinks "Alice in Wonderland" incorporates halucinigens, he thinks "Tom Sawyer" is racist, she thinks it should be illegal to say F#4k.. where does it end? The problem is.. it doesn't.

Legislating morality is a slippery slope... before you know it GlenD's blog will be banned, then mine... There was a time when laws on the books in many states prohibited teachers from being out after a certain hour, from being seen at bars or out with men. There is no end to legislating morality. I don't feel like I need to push my moral agenda on anybody else.. why do they feel they need to push theirs on me?

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